I’m Not A Saint Though?

chapter 4

What nonsense was this?

So I understood the lion’s language?

‘That can’t be. I’ve never understood animal speech before…’

It was then, as I couldn’t hide my bewilderment,

“But why aren’t you dead?”

“Because you haven’t eaten me yet?”

When I retorted as if it were obvious, the lion made a puzzled expression.

It seemed to have some unresolved questions, but I couldn’t wait for it to open its mouth.

I, too, had an important issue to resolve.

“Excuse me, but could you please put me down? This is my first time levitating, and it feels a bit strange.”

“Oh right, of course.”

As if it had forgotten, the lion smacked my forehead with its giant paw— *whack*—and then swung its tail once.

Then, my body, which had been floating in mid-air, slowly descended to the ground.

Finally letting out a sigh of relief, I started a proper conversation with the lion.

“So, I heard you say you wouldn’t eat me earlier. Is that true?”

“Of course. I don’t kill.”

“A predator doesn’t kill? Why? Ah, because you’re the Goddess’s Representative?”

As I nodded as if I understood, the lion snorted, *hmph*.

“Representative, my foot. I’m not that. I’m just a contractor.”

“A contractor?”

“Yes, Hedel promised to make me a divine beast if I refrained from killing and cultivated my mind and body in this cave for a thousand years.  I’ve never broken the contract since then.”

‘Never broken it?’

I felt a sense of doubt at the lion’s words.

Judging from the situation I had experienced so far, it seemed like the lion had been drowning the sacrificed women in the spring, and that was also an act of killing.

It just hadn’t eaten them.

“Then what about the sacrifices offered so far…?”

I was about to ask what had happened to them when,

“I didn’t do that!”

The lion frantically waved its paws.

“I don’t know, it’s not my fault. They kept crawling into my dwelling and bothering me, so I yelled at them to stop coming in, and they all just dropped dead! What did I do…”

I nodded as if I understood, looking at the lion scratching the ground with its giant paws and making a sullen expression.

‘Aha, so they died of heart attacks.’

Well, if the lion’s roar hadn’t been translated into human language for me, I might have died suddenly as well.

How many people could keep their sanity with such a huge lion roaring at them?

‘It would be difficult for anyone without a strong heart.’

After nodding repeatedly for a while, I thought of another question and opened my mouth.

“Wait, according to that contract, you can’t leave this cave for a thousand years. Then what do you eat? There can’t be anything to eat in a cave like this.”

The lion sighed deeply at my words and then tapped the cave wall with its paw.

“This is my staple food.”

Wondering what it was, I went over and saw moss densely covering the wall.

“…You live off moss? A lion?”

“Yes, there’s nothing but this moss growing in this cave, so I have no choice.”

The lion’s eyes drooped. It seemed dissatisfied that the so-called strongest land predator was living off moss.

‘Well, anyone whose staple food was moss would make that expression.’

Clicking my tongue in sympathy, I cautiously asked, “Then how much longer do you have to stay here to fulfill the thousand years?”

At that moment, the lion’s expression hardened, and it muttered in a gloomy voice, “…It’s over.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

I only asked again because its voice was so low.

Certainly not.

“It’s over, it’s over, it’s long over! It’s already been a thousand and five years since I’ve been stuck in this cave, eating nothing but moss!”

“…”

I had no intention of leisurely listening to the lion’s tale of being scammed.

***

The lion continued to roar as if some kind of seizure button had been pressed.

On top of that, it even started wailing, shedding tears like raindrops.

Dumbfounded by the rare sight I had never seen before, I finally stammered, “Th-Then the contract period is already over. So why are you still here like this?”

“Why do you think! Because Hedel, that damn Goddess, disappeared!”

“The Goddess disappeared? Where to?”

“If I knew that, would I be here like this?”

Perhaps angered by my clueless question, the lion snarled, baring its sharp fangs.

“You’re right. My thinking was shortsighted.”

Hastily changing my attitude before I got burned, I quickly changed the subject.

“Then why don’t you go out and look for the Goddess? Now that the deadline is over, there’s no need for you to be cooped up in this cave.”

Then, the lion’s expression turned sullen again.

“If I could, I would have done that already. I can’t leave this cave.”

“You can’t leave? Why?”

“Hedel placed a restriction so I can’t leave this cave without her permission.”

“Huh? Why would she place such a restriction?”

As I tilted my head in puzzlement, the lion said hesitantly, “Well… I actually tried to escape a few times. I got tired of being stuck in this dark cave, eating only moss…”

The lion scratched its temple with its giant paw and chuckled awkwardly.

‘What’s with this wannabe divine beast?’

Shaking my head at the glimpse of patheticness, I opened my mouth again.

“Anyway, that means I don’t have to die, right? Since you said you don’t kill. Right?”

“Well, yeah.”

At the lion’s agreement, I sighed in relief.

“That’s a relief.  I had too many regrets to die like this.”

Especially, I regretted not being able to crush that trash more thoroughly.

‘What should I do with them? First, I should seize the jewels I left behind, right?  And then I should seize the jewels I left behind. Why should the Dukedom’s assets pay for the gambling debts that trash created?  I was too merciful.  So, what should I do next… Huh?  Wait a minute.’

As I calmly planned my revenge, I suddenly froze like a statue.

“It seems you’ve only investigated my personal assets, but that’s not all I disposed of. I sold all the family’s assets and donated them.”

“Why wouldn’t I have the right? The family seal and all authority are mine. Grandfather transferred them to me before he passed away, saying that if they were left to my incompetent father, who only knows how to indulge in luxury, he would squander everything within three years.”

“From where to where? From the house you live in to the mines and businesses, everything.  Ah, but I didn’t touch your accessories or those of your appendages.”

Because I just remembered that there wasn’t a single house left for me to return to, let alone any assets in my name.

‘…I’m screwed!’

Why did I do such a crazy thing?

I endured that incompetent father and those appendages who lived beyond their means, and I went through so much trouble to protect the assets!

I felt like all the blood was draining from my body.

But this was nothing.

“Your brain is so slow, you didn’t anticipate that, did you?  I knew it.”

“For revenge, of course. I’m being pushed to my death by you, while you’re going to live happily ever after playing house with those lowlifes. Isn’t that utterly unreasonable? Don’t you think?”

“Now that your curiosity is satisfied, get that filthy face out of my sight. I’ve said everything I wanted to say and I’m about to die feeling refreshed, but continuing to look at that disgusting face is making me feel like crap.”

Compared to the crazy things I said…

Even without authority, the head of the family is still the head of the family.

Would that trash leave me alone?

‘He’ll try to remove me from the heir position somehow… Ha, this cursed mouth!’

Slapping my careless mouth, I shook my head.

‘No. At least I’m alive.  I survived even being sent to my death, so there must be a way.’

Wiping my damp eyes, I trudged towards the entrance.

Then, the lion called out to me.

“Huh? Where are you going all of a sudden?”

“Where else? Out of the cave, of course.”

“What?  Leaving?  This cave?  Why?”

“You said you wouldn’t eat me. Then there’s no reason for me to stay here any longer.”

As I answered as if it were the most obvious thing, the lion blinked blankly and then suddenly yelled, “No, you can’t leave! Absolutely not!”

Its appearance seemed so desperate that I became even more puzzled.

“Why? Is there a reason I can’t leave?”

“Of course, there is. And a very big one!”

The lion’s expression was quite serious as it said so.